My Sister's Keeper - Bev Russell, Library Director

(This column appeared in the May 20, 2007, Star-Herald)

In this week’s column Librarian Jana Kehn reviews "My Sister’s Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. This book has received multiple "starred" reviews and has created quite a buzz. After reading Jana’s review, it’s on my "must read" list. (br)

My "Next Read" often comes from library patrons’ suggestions, as was the case with Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. Thank you to the patron who suggested this one. My reaction? WOW!

This novel is much more than a page-turner. It’s an incredible character study wrapped in a complex and compelling story line.

Told from the varying viewpoints of fascinating personalities, it opens with thirteen year old Anna Fitzgerald. "I was born because a scientist managed to hook up my mother’s eggs and my father’s sperm to create a specific combination of precious material…they chose little embryonic me, specifically, because I could save my sister, Kate…". Anna, from the time she was born, has been helping Kate stay alive-first by donating cord blood, then lymphocytes, then bone marrow and blood stem cells. To this point, sixteen- year-old Kate has beat the odds of the leukemia her body harbors. To stay alive, she now needs Anna’s help again. Kate’s only hope this time is for Anna to donate a kidney.

Anna is a very mature thirteen-year-old who deeply loves her sister Kate, but she has had enough. Anna’s sole purpose for being has been to be a donor for Kate. No questions asked. Now, to her parents’ dismay, she has retained the services of attorney Campbell Alexander, to get medical emancipation from them.

As each vignette unfolds to a wide cast of characters, their emotions and feelings are introduced as they deal separately with complex situations.

Sara, the mother: At first, she is perceived as cold and uncaring as far as Anna is concerned. As the story continues, one sees that she has had to put all of her efforts into helping daughter Kate survive. Sometimes, this has left her other two children, son Jesse and Anna alienated from her affections.

Brian, the father: A firefighter whose profession is saving others, he feels his family is drowning, and he can’t rescue them.

Kate, the sixteen-year-old daughter: At the age of two, Kate was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. From that point forward, her life has been defined by her disease.

Jesse, the eighteen-year-old son: In his attempts for attention and his efforts to find out where he fits, Jesse has become a rebellious delinquent.

Anna, the thirteen-year-old daughter: Genetically engineered to be a perfect match for cancer-ridden Kate, Anna struggles to have control over her own body and tries to rationalize her purpose for being.

Campbell Alexander, the attorney: Campbell and Judge, his service dog (needed for a mysterious condition) are retained to represent Anna in the suit against her parents.

Julia, guardian ad litem assigned to Anna’s case: Julia and Campbell have a conflicted past which Julia has never fully recovered from.

Full of subplots and some very unexpected twists, Picoult manages to pull this novel together beautifully at the end. This book would provide any book club with some very stimulating conversation as well as the individual reader some food for thought.

I totally agree with the critics that say "My Sister’s Keeper is a beautiful, heartbreaking, controversial, and honest book."

I definitely would read another of this talented author’s masterpieces.

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